Is It Good? Uncanny X-Men #10 Review

Battle of the Atom kicks into gear September 4th, so in a lot of ways this series is a prelude to that event. The latest issue appears to be diving right into some concepts we’ll be chewing on in the coming months so, is it good?

Uncanny X-Men Vol. 3 #10 (Marvel Comics)

Check out our review of #9 here.

Dazzler is the S.H.I.E.L.D. liaison who will be working to contain the New Xavier School and all that comes with it. Magneto is secretly working with S.H.I.E.L.D. — or is he? — and Cyclops very much needs to get his students through some training. With only a few days under their belt and zero fighting skills, sending them into battle is practically suicide. This issue opens with Cyclops observing said training.

That’s a pretty cool power.

Writer Brian Michael Bendis has got a few balls rolling with this story and in all honesty it requires a bunch to keep the reader’s interest. That’s because there’s no visible threat just yet, so the inner turmoil of the characters is mandatory for a comic like this. These characters barely know how to use their powers and learning what they can do is ideal not just for their safety but their sanity as well. The issue then progresses the Magneto/SHIELD relationship and then drops a bomb on the X-Men property as whole.

Yeah, just look at Beast’s ability to look monsterious!

Bendis has an intriguing idea at work here because it’s never been done. There are humans banding together to express their desire to support mutants as they are “our future.” Bendis uses a news feed, which reminded me a bit of what Frank Miller did in Dark Knight Returns to show the pulse of the nation. Or at least a small faction of said nation. When Cyclops decides to teleport over and give his own speech we get to see how he thinks his school and message should be perceived. Clearly the happenings in this issue are leading up to something big.

Frazer Irving does another great job here. The backgrounds always make the characters pop and I’m loving his rendition of Magneto. He’s looking old, war-torn and very tired. So often in the last decade Magneto has had that long hair model look which doesn’t make any sense. Here he’s almost like a war veteran.

Too bad you killed him.

8.0

• Unique art that pops
• Interesting developments with human/mutant relations

• You’ll need to read each month to enjoy this book

This is a strong installment that shouldn’t be missed if you’re planning on reading Battle of the Atom. There are so many questions that haven’t been answered, like are these new mutants ready, who is controlling the sentinels, what is Magneto’s plan and most importantly, does Cyclops know what he’s doing? In years past he had a PR agent for a reason, right? It should be interesting to see how this story plays out, especially with new mutants afoot who are true wild cards.

Is It Good?

Yes. Another Marvel book that’s good but not spectacular that should appeal to anyone following along.